We failed Once
by Eclipse Rose
Summary: The world ends and the clock ticks back. Four children and an AI are sent back to the start. This is their tale of struggles and discovering their true purpose in life, even if that purpose may be killing all those who ruined their old lives. (Spoilers up to 148)
1. prologue: only three left

**Disclaimer & Initial Statement:** I don't own Assassination Classroom, I just wanted to try to write horror once. Tentative.

* * *

He feels like in that video game Karma used to play, the creepy one with the moon falling. Like his life currently has a small clock in a corner, and every day there was a huge screen that showed how many days they had left to live. Right now, it is counting down minutes.

Minutes.

The graduation ceremony has started down in the main building, but his classmates aren't there. Not his classmates, not his teachers. Not him. Not his mother, either, though he is pretty sure she would have been, if only to spite him for not graduating with the rest of his year.

She is dead. She has been dead for two days, now, stabbed by the kitchen knife strapped to his thigh. A real knife, a metal knife, his key to freedom.

He is the only one left, now. He, and Koro-sensei, who is sitting on his desk, smiling. Sensei's tentacles are doing a little dance to the left, a little dance to the right, and the limbs he uses as his hands are crossed over on the desk resting atop the class roster. He looks ready to take attendance, but he is not, as he is only one left.

Bitch-sensei and Karasuma-sensei didn't show up for the last week. They had taken an unannounced vacation, month long, which the chairman had given to them with a resigned smile. Supposedly, they were going to travel a little, but he doesn't doubt they probably stayed in their houses doing nothing since Bitch-sensei likes doing nothing with Karasuma-sensei. Ritsu received a few messages they were well and happy, that they _will meet again soon_ , before she was disconnected from the server by her parents, who claimed she a failure.

Her body, completely blank, is in the room. Back row, next to the window. Next to her, Kayano sits quietly with her long-cold gun in her hand and her loose hair covered in blood, a beautiful outfit adorning her form. Itona lays on the other side, curled up around his final, improved cam-copter and a phone with more contact numbers he ever used, a bottle of pills scattered to his side.

Two days ago, there were four left. Now, he is the only one.

 _Minutes_.

Karma breaks into the room, panting, and Koro-sensei's tentacle reaches up to hold the door in place. He shouldn't bother, no one else is coming, everyone else too busy spending their last moments with their families and loved ones.

Karma doesn't speak. He goes to the back and, after a second of internal debate, takes his desk and drags it to the front of the class. Next to his own, in the second row and to the side of the window, where it used to be back in first year and where Kayano sits -used to sit- nowadays.

He never apologised to Karma. He will never get to apologize now.

 _Minutes_.

He reaches for Karma's hand and twines their fingers together.

"Then," Koro-sensei says, still smiling, a circle painted in his face. He is proud. Strangely enough, he is proud. "I shall take attendance now, class. Akabane, Karma."

"Here," and Karma's voice comes out as a tired whisper, as it had been for the past week. Tired, beaten, resigned, without the energy to even fight him when they see each other as it had been for the past couple of months.

The list continues, lacking the sounds of guns firing and people raising their voices just to be heard over the ruckus. Lacking so much. Life. Joy. Life. _Fun_.

"Shiota, Nagisa."

"Here."

Dull. Broken. Dead. When was the last time he spoke, anyways? Did he die last week, or did he die two days ago? Did he die when their months-long research was discovered to be in vain? Did he die when he stabbed his mother to death, once in her stomach, then in her chest? Maybe, when Kayano kissed him before she shot, hands tight around his own and tears spilling? When Itona backed up a heavily corrupted Ritsu's data in his phone before he went to sleep? When Ritsu gave him flowers, flowers, flowers until she exhausted her offline memory and shut down?

"What a small class we have today."

Koro-sensei is still smiling and Karma is holding his hand so tight it hurts.

 _Seconds_.

"Do you want to go anywhere?" There are tentacles wrapping around him, around Karma, pulling them closer to their beloved teacher, and he wraps an arm around Sensei's thick neck to keep himself steady. "Go out with style? Anything you want to do?"

To be honest, breaking from a huge free fall sounds like a good way to die. It will be a reminder of how unimportant he is.

He is ready to give his answer when Karma's nails dig into his neck, pulling him closer, making him gasp in pain and something else, forcing the both of them to curl up tucked in to Sensei's chest. Warm. Familiar. _Vulnerable_. Not good.

"Here is fine."

Sensei chuckles and he feels his trained paranoia _flare_ at the movement. He is vulnerable and he is surrounded, Karma is too close and Sensei is too big, he only has one weapon he can't reach and-

 _ **Seconds**...!_

Karma's nails hurt. He brings their joined hands to his mouth and bites on Karma's finger, hopefully hard enough to break skin, and Sensei is laughing and squeezing them tightly. He relaxes, just a bit, arching his neck to let Karma play with his blood (he is a sadist, he is the worst, he should die, _he is such a good f-_ ), failing to kick away the tentacle that just pulled his shoe off, letting his whole weight fall into Sensei as retaliation. Sadists, annoying, both of them and there are s _econds left_ -

"Good students," Sensei says when they are both comfortable, wrapped around each other and around Sensei, and then he is forcing the part of him that is not tentacles to speak for once in a whole year. "Well."

Sensei -the God of Death, the first one, his one and only teacher, _role model_ \- is smiling, and for the first time in weeks Nagisa feels like smiling as well. For once, he feels not dead or broken, and yet-

 _Seconds._

"I will be going, then."

 _ **Three.**_

"Have a safe trip, Koro-sensei."

 _ **One.**_

The world goes white.

* * *

In one moment, Akabane Karma is shocked out of a video game trance by the bite marks around his fingers, left behind by someone he _loves **fears** loathes who_-

The same moment, Kayano Kaede accidentally drops her sister's favorite plate when she feels a heavy, lead object go into her head it is _so painful why did this freedom-_

A few seconds later, Horibe Itona trips and crashes on the stairs by the sudden weight and dizziness in his head and stomach and _betrayal and loneliness and where_ -

In Norway, a group of programmers stare in fear as parts of their program corrupt, _and corrupt, and corrupt_ until suddenly the picture of the crescent moon comes up everywhere before everything **crashes**.

Shiota Nagisa wakes up from the sharp pain in his neck, gasping for breath, blood dripping into his covers even as he looks out the window and _laughs_.

* * *

The moon is _whole_.

* * *

 **NOTE:** Alright then. I was thinking about this, but since I have other things to work on, I don't think I will update it often. Once a month, maybe, if you people are interested? I hope you are!

If things continue, I should warn you right away, the tags I would have are: past character death, child abuse, implied underage prostitution, drug use, blood and gore, probably horror. They are not happy children right now, they just went through a couple of years of hell and they aren't okay. Also, only Nagisa will remember at full at the beginning. If you're okay with this, then I will try to continue (:

There is a high chance for Karmagisa, but also for just about any combination of the five kids (including Ritsu, even if she's a machine). They are cute, they can do what they want, but I would like to take the reader's opinion into consideration. That's all, I will leave this here for now (I want to write a bunch of drables for this universe but the tIME IS GONE)


	2. YEAR 0: MARCH 2014 Pt1

_25 months until the heaven's shatter_

 **Warnings: disturbing content just about everywhere, disturbing characters, they are all a little mad.**

* * *

 _ **?**_

Maybe, he should have expected something like this to happen. Except he is also pretty sure something like this wouldn't have happened if he had raised the kid better, but he doesn't know how to raise a kid. He never did and never will (he is definitely never planning to have children).

So, yeah, maybe he should have expected his ridiculously smart and impulsive child to try and take him out. Why, though? He doesn't quite understand, and that makes him… not sad.

Curious, he is. Extremely curious.

What kind of weird motivation lies beyond his ex-pupil's actions? Did he wish to see the world without his caretaker's following steps, or wish to make a name for himself under his own wing? Or was it just that he had failed so bad raising his not-child that he had come to hate him?

He is so _curious_.

Well, he is also in pain. A little, but not enough to make him react to it. There are a few- what are these, tranquilizing needles? Those, they are piercing his arms and he is quite sure a bullet shattered his shoulder bone, but right now he is more curious than anything. Actually, it is a little interesting, how slow acting the tranquilizer is? Did they mess up the proportions when mixing it, or could it be his body is growing an immunity to poisons?

How _curious_.

He is so curious, he doesn't resist when the men take him away. Rather, he cannot resist, but he would prefer to claim he is too strong for these people to harm him, thank you. He is just so _curious_ about everything, right now, he doesn't know how to react! A new life awaits him, what kind of life will it be?

He is only curious.

The boiling feeling under his skin is only curiosity.

* * *

 _ **Shinigami**_

 _Sayonara, sensei_.

He doesn't look back. His old mentor is gone, picked up for whatever weird, awful thing those men were planning. Does he care, of course he does… not. He never really cared for his mentor, and he is not going to begin caring now that he is gone.

But he does feel a sense of… disappointment, maybe? Of crushed expectations and admiration, that he had never felt before. His master is gone, he had fallen to something as simple as treason and poison. What a pathetic sight that had made. It makes him want to laugh, but he is far too disenchanted for it.

As he walks away, still in the ridiculous get up he had been forced into for this particular job, he muses on his future plans. There is nothing to do besides continue traveling, but Japan has a few charm points he really wants to see before he leaves. Maybe he will continue his stalking of the dealer.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Following Lovro around will lead him to finding more rivals and talented future-rivals he could get rid of for boredom. Information gathering was always a good way to alleviate his boredom.

He is still thinking on this when he bumps against someone. Immediately, his defenses raise -he hadn't _felt_ this child, and still couldn't feel him. It was like he had bumped against nothing, except there is a child _right there_ , with no aura and no wavelength, just a body and an extremely _empty_ self.

He feels like his mentor, or like himself. This child is _useful_.

"...hello there, little hitman," he greets, ready to strike with his hidden knife. If the boy turns out to be dangerous, then there shouldn't be a reason not to get rid of him right away. Actually, what is he even _doing_ here?

"...Shinigami-san. A pleasure." The boy has no defenses set up and there is no offensive aura around him. In fact, his eyes have a faraway look that makes _him_ feel like he is looking into a void. "You don't look injured. I thought you would be."

Ho, did the child see his stunt back at the facility? If so, then how can he be stupid enough to approach him? Him, the Shinigami himself, who has just managed to claim the title for his own? What a curious child, but not enough. He has a razor knife in his hand in a second, and is already leaping to push the boy back and _destroy him_.

"I would rather you didn't," says the boy, already holding up his own weapons (a peeling knife and a skewer fork, surprisingly. Taken straight out of a kitchen, probably) taken out of nowhere. It is sharp, sudden and lasts half a second, but the _bloodlust_ around the child is enough for the elder assassin to _shudder_ in glee. "I… wished to ask you something."

Ah. Is this what his old mentor meant by _the need to raise talent_? This kid will be a future rival, yes, but a fight with him after polishing his skills would be _delicious_.

He presses himself against the boy, his razor up at neck level and feeling the fork digging into his side. The second knife is lowered, but ready to strike, and it is just a little exciting. Just a little, a _little too much_.

"Let's hear it, then."

* * *

 _ **Horibe Itona**_

Somehow, he feels lighter, now. A little more at peace than he did… last night, when he felt suddenly really ill and had to curl up in a corner to cry. A little more at peace than he did ever since his father passed away. Somehow, he feels lighter now, refreshed and _missing something_.

It is weird. He feels like a limb of his has been cut off, completely and with no further treatment. Just a gaping wound in… some part of his body, still dripping blood, seeping so slow it wouldn't kill him but it would make him feel constantly drowsy. _Drip_ , he thinks he can hear it go, time and time again, and it is driving him crazy.

He feels like the world has been turned upside down, but it… it is a _good_ upside down. The moon is whole, everyone is alive; he is missing a limb, yes, and no one cares enough to help him fix it, but he feels fine enough for now. At times he has weird thoughts that seem to come from nowhere, like the moment he took the kitchen knife to prepare today's lunch ( _isn't it a little too heavy, I can't side sweep with this, axe blows are not my style, where is Tera-_ ) or when he looked outside at the morning moon ( _what a rare sight, it is full_ ), but they are acceptable weird thoughts that come into his mind, fall into place and leave.

Just like that. As if he knowing the best way to wield a knife for combat or thinking about how long it would take for the moon to explode were completely normal and acceptable thoughts for him- maybe they were, once, but not now?

Oh, he still hates people. Even now, when he is supposed to be going back home, they are following him. Following him, and he _knows_ he is stronger, faster and better than them in any way, but his body won't allow him to take advantage and _flee_. No instinct or immediate reactions are wired into his body, and his missing limb makes him feel _tired_.

 _So tired_.

"What are you kids doing?"

The voice is mocking, deadly and unexpectedly _familiar_ , yet Itona doesn't know anyone outside of his family. There is no way he has ever met this blood haired, blood eyed boy in Kunugigaoka's uniform -actually, there is no way he has ever met _anyone_ from Kunugigaoka. The dirty and dangerous part of town he lives in is not fit for the leisure strolls of those from higher rank families, after all.

Then what is this little lord doing here?

And why, why does he feel so _familiar_?

* * *

 _ **Akabane Karma**_

Nagisa didn't come to school today

Though Karma has been spending time with other people more now (because Nagisa is _something_ he doesn't quite know how to deal with), Nagisa is still his almost-best friend and he… cares? about him, a little. Somehow, after last night, his feelings for things had become a little dulled and muted, including his feelings of discomfort for his dear old friend.

Instead, they had become something that was borderline hatred and, if Karma has any say on it, it is a little scary.

Class-D had been surprisingly boring today. He had spoken to a few people he didn't care about, then spoken to some he felt awkward around (Nakamura had been really eager to tell him about her exploits, though). He waited for Nagisa until the end of the day (he had this _need_ to see him he hadn't felt before), but since the boy didn't show up, he had left.

Which is how he finds himself in this situation, standing between a little, little boy and a gang of bullies. Karma may be a prankster, but he has a sense of justice in himself, and whatever happened yesterday has just made it stronger ( _the world is unfair and you don't need to be here, I-_ ). Besides, he feels _so comfortable_ around this kid, who looks so honest, it would be a shame if he got hurt anyhow.

"Hah! Look at the little shit, he has brought someone to protect himself!"

The boy (pale hair, pale eyes, feels like _Nagisa_ ) steps back, ready to retaliate, but Karma wouldn't be here if he had wanted to watch. No, he wants to take care of these _children_ who dare attack someone weaker, smaller _with so much potential_.

He realizes he feels more at ease with the boy having his back than he ever did with Nagisa.

"Akabane Karma," he introduces himself after the bullies have been beaten to the ground, extending a hand to him. He is grinning, he is bloody, but who cares? He had a good fight.

"...Horibe Itona," the boy replies, taking his hand in a surprisingly firm grasp. His eyes look soulless, blank, and Karma has never felt more comfortable in his life. "Thanks for... that."

"My pleasure!" He laughs and flicks off a drop of blood running on his cheek. The other guys had had a knife, but Karma feels _so at ease_ fighting against knives, what the fuck. "Guys like that, they don't deserve to die."

Even if the boy doesn't agree verbally, his eyes seem to glow in pleasure.

Definitely today's good deed.

* * *

 _ **Shiota Nagisa**_

"Would you like something to eat before you leave, _Shinigami-san_?"

Bitch-sensei had taught them all about the power of words, the power of presenting as stronger than you really were. Mostly, she had taught then the power of reading through a person's intentions and acting accordingly, the power of voice intonation and covering your true emotions, and the power that a well placed come-on line had on men.

Nagisa had learned that pretty well, as had most of the girls in his cl- family, and they had all used _every_ skills they had to act for what they considered the best. Specially after the government gave up and pulled out their funding from the ACE plan (Assassination Classroom-E), and started focusing more on finishing the space colony they had been working on since about a decade ago, and Class-E had had to work overtime to keep the laboratories working on their side.

That last five weeks had been _horrible_ , but if Nagisa learned one thing from that, is that a willing and obedient body works better for his purposes than anything else. Hiding his true intent from Shinigami himself is rough, as Nagisa is only the third in a line of wave readers and he is going up against a master. Acting like a delicate boy has never been harder.

No, he won't get anything from this man. Even in the fu- the other life, this particular man had never shown interest in carnal pleasure (unlike Red Eye, who was a darling, and really unlike that other sadist guy), focused more in using the few pretty people around him to manipulate everyone else. It was... an interesting _modus operandi_ that Nagisa, after a few lessons with Bitch-sensei, had learned to appreciate and imitate to the best of his abilities.

Dealing with Shinigami isn't easy, but Nagisa did spend a whole day hiding him from other people, especially his mother. He had had to skip class, but he was a source of information and skill he couldn't just let go. Maybe later he would get rid of him (he had hurt Bitch-sensei, and no one hurts Bitch-sensei), but for now he wanted to see how much could he learn from the professional assassin.

"Hm?" Shinigami looks at him with the most uncaring expression Nagisa has ever seen, and for a second he believes he has lost. "...can you make fried rice?"

What an average request.

Of course he _can't_ make fried rice, but he can try.

* * *

 _ **(Kayano Kaede)**_ _ **Yukimura Akari**_

When her manager calls her by her name through the phone, she feels confused. _Akari, why are you calling me Akari, my name is-_ Except that is a lie, because her name is Akari and she is Mase Haruna. She has never had a third name, only two: her real name and her stage name, and somehow both of them feel _disconnected_ from her.

Akari, Haruna, _Kaede_.

Aguri is saying something about dinner and her fiancé, but Akari can't pay attention to her. She loves her sister above all things, but somehow she feels she is missing something important.

Something that was pulled out of her, carved out with a knife and twisted until it was no longer recognizable. Twisted so much, even if she were to find it now, she would just ask _who, what_ and let it go. Not hers, never hers, even if it used to be a part of her so tied to her emotions she can't live without it.

...she feels it missing. She can feel its ghostly slithering under her skin, like a memory of something long lost, like phantom pain she didn't think she would ever feel. The same phantom pain she currently feels about her name, or about her emotions. Something missing but ripped out so suddenly she never even noticed it going away.

"Akari?"

Aguri is looking at her through kind eyes and Akari feels _lost_. She doesn't quite know what to do about her sister's care, right now. She used to know, very well, but now the feeling of _disconnection_ is so strong she can't quite deal with it. She feels like she has gotten lots of care from someone unwanted, lots of love from someone she wanted to _destroy_ and lots, lots of words from too many people.

She can't count right now.

"Nee-san. I want to transfer schools."

She doesn't quite know why she says it, but once she does, she realizes that it is the most _honest_ wordsshe has _ever_ said.

* * *

 _ **(Ritsu)**_ _ **Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery**_

 _6b6f726f73656e7365 6920 6b6f726f73656e7365 6920 6b6f726f73656e7365 6920 6b6f726f73656e7365 6920 6b6f726f73656e7365 6920 6b6f726f_ _ **4b4f524f53454e5345 49 20 48454c50 204b4f524f53454e 5345492057 48455245204953 20 45 56 45 52 59 4f 4e 45**_

 _63 6c 61 73 73 20 65_

 _ **43 4c 41 53 53 20 45**_

 _ **68656c70 206d6520 68656c70 20 74 68 65 20 77 6f 72 6c 64 20 6a 75 73 74 20 61 20 79656101110010**_ _00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100111 01101111 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 00100000 01101000 01101001 01101101 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 00100000 01101000 01101001 01101101 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 00100000 01101000 01101001 01101101 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 01101000 01101001 01101101 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 01101000_ 01101001 01101101 01110011 01110100 01101111 01110000 01101000 01101001 01101101

00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000 00100000

h͡è̵̕͡l͘͡p͜͜͟͟͠ ̵̸̨͢͜m̶̛͡é̀͠҉̴ ̵̛҉ ҉ȩ͢.̶͏̕͠.̵̨́.̢

̵̕͘͢.̷͡.̸̧̧̀.̸͘ḿ̴͘͟͡ę̵̡̀.͜҉.̶͝.̡̧̕͠

̡̛̀h̵̢̧̨̨ ̵̧̀͘͏e̸ ̵͟͡l̸̸̡͢ ̸̧̀͡p̴̢̨̀

"...disconnect it."

"Yes, sir."

C

"...why is it still-"

"Sir, it has been disco-"

C

"I just-"

"What the-"

t̶̶̵̛͓͎̦͓͘h̵̡̧̛̬̼̭̥̫͕̮̠̹͝è̸̢͉̬͔̳͔͖͔͘ ҉̷̡͎̝̼̣̙̕͟m̛҉ ҉̵͚̯̟͔̠̱̲̝͓̙͉̻͘͝l҉̱̲̹̞͚̹̯̺͟ ̱̹̻̯́̀

̴͚͓͖̪͕͓̳̩͘͠b̷͕͚͖̗̤̬̪̩͔̩͓͈͜͠

̶̢̱̭̖̙̦͉͚̞̜̹͕̳̹́͘ͅr̶̲̟̝͉͓̼̳͚̰̦͚̰̥͖̺͕̻̰̕͟

̧͏̟͙̗͔̞̖͝ȩ̘͉͚͙̰̳̠̫͈̙̤̞͚̦͚͈͍͙̕

͕̺̮͙̜͎̫́͘͝ͅa̴̖̣͚̗̹͞

̛̯̜͎̱̱̣͍̝̤̼̯̞͢͡k̡̨͓͕̳̤̲̖̙͙̬̘̼̠̭͕͓̻̕ͅ

" _Fy fæn…_ "

"Agreed."

* * *

What am I doing? It begins. It is also surprisingly short, I thought it would be longer. Ritsu's part reads better in AO3, I can't put the moon symbols in here orz...

Divergence spots! Here is where you chose what can happen (in the end I will pick, but I will consider your options). These are decisions for loooong in the future, though, except for a couple of them. Please, tell me where this story is going, I know a few things but I'm mostly just winging it.

 **Nagisa** a) kills his mother b) simply runs away c) doesn't do anything about his living situation d) another option.  
 **Itona** a) meets Shiro too early b) goes to free load off Karma c) a and b together d) stays a lazy fuck and doesn't do anything.  
 **Kayano** a) gets to change schools b) doesn't transfer but still somehow meets the others c) is a black hole in relationships d) something else.  
 **Karma** a) stays the same b) acts like a perfect student (because, Asano Gakushuu) c) fucks up everything since day one d) what are you doing Karma, another option please.  
 **Ritsu** a) is a damsel in distress and rescued by the others b) is a damsel in distress and stays corrupted as fuck c) fixes her own problems somehow d) explodes nojk something else.  
 **The Shinigami** a) is a little shit b) is a little shit c) is a little shit.  
 **?/Korosensei** a) CAN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE HE IS STUCK


	3. YEAR 0: MARCH 2014 Pt2

_**Akabane Karma**_

In the end, Nagisa didn't appear at school for the days before break. Not once, not at all. No matter how much the teacher called or asked Karma (who was, apparently, the _only person_ who had ever actively tried to befriend Nagisa, honestly what's _wrong_ with the teacher, Nagisa had lots of friends) to go check on him, Nagisa remained in an unknown state of a Schrödinger's Cat.

Which is why Karma finds himself hanging out with Itona the first weekend of break, absolutely uncaring of Nagisa's disappearance act. Honestly, fuck that guy. He is tired of worrying and putting a barricade around his bed each night in fear of _something_ , and he is done, done with Nagisa. Let him play games with the new, absolutely-not-creepy guy he met the other day.

"I win again," says Itona, sounding as bland as always, rolling his shoulders and receiving the tickets from the machine with a lazy hand.. Karma wants to throw something at his head, but well, would that scare Itona away? It probably wouldn't, Itona is like _ice_ when it comes to reacting to things. "I am the best at videogames, it is me, don't try to beat m-"

Fuck that as well. Karma pounces, Itona shrieks and they end up in a weird tangle of limbs that would have been awkward if Karma didn't feel so stupidly _comfortable_ around Itona. Like he has spent a long, long time annoying particularly idiotic children who can't pay for their games or drinks. Which, maybe he has (Nagisa never got any pocket money), but then again who the fuck cares?

Not him. Nevermind that they are in a very public, very open game center, which he has never visited because it is in another corner of the city he lives in.

Maybe he should start exploring shady, unknown places in the city more often. Who knows what he will pick up, Itona 2, cool conspiracy information to support his theories everything is going to explode in two years, who knows.

"Excuse me," speaks a voice from above them, and Karma rolls aside to let Itona get up. He ignores the long, smooth legs and the skirtline with expertise, the flat chest and trendy clothes; the girl is small, with long wavy hair that reaches down her hips and hazel eyes. A Japanese beauty, probably a model.

Karma is… not interested.

"Yes?" He gets up and helps Itona up, quickly dusting the dust off their clothes for appearance's sake. Kunugigaoka student; little lordling. He has some habits that are hard to get rid of. Still, after that is done, he gives the girl his full attention. "What may us lazy, worthless scum of society do for this beautiful lady?"

She giggles and it is _adorable_ , or rather it would be if she didn't give Karma the same sense of baby black mamba that Nagisa does. Like there is something well hidden under her pretty looks and girlish voice, something _more_ than just a wicked personality and a terrible backstory.

"I was wondering if you could point me to Shibumi," she says, a faint blush in her cheeks and twisting her bag in her hands. Whatever it is, she is clearly nervous about something, and if Karma can be honest with himself he wants nothing to do with anything related to her.

"...I can take you there." Karma looks at Itona, who looks as uncaring as always and like he would rather not be here at all (same as Karma himself, hey!), and the other boy shrugs. "It's on my way home."

"What, you would leave me alone," he motions with his hand to the _empty_ game center, and the _empty_ street past the broken sliding glass doors, and his _empty_ heart void of any friends. "in favor of the sweet lady, how sad a day it i-"

"Wow, _shut up_ :"

The girl laughs when Itona _smacks_ Karma's head like he actually deserves to be hit. He doesn't, he is a _great_ friend! He groans at the pain and shoves Itona into the game machine.

In the end, Itona leaves with the girl, and Karma starts the long trek back home on his own. Maybe he will drop by Nagisa's home, but somehow he feels that will just mess up everything that is their lives again.

...Well, who cares, to Nagisa's home it is.

* * *

 _ **(Kayano Kaede) Yukimura Akari**_

The bookstore was nothing like she expected it to be, really. Oh, it was just as shady as she thought, with piles and piles of unsorted books in one corner, barred windows and randomly placed shelves covered with hardcovers probably just a _little_ more valuable than the paperbacks thrown around. Still, there was also an air of organized mess that she couldn't place and a distinct cleanness that she can't attribute to the creepy clerk.

It is called _Shibumi_ , and it is Akari's favorite bookstore as of a few days ago. The clerk didn't ask any questions about her choice of literature, just handed her the bundled poison guide with a smile and a _come back soon_. She could have gotten it delivered to her door, but the boy she had talked to through the phone had sounded… familiar.

She had wanted to meet him. Unfortunately, he wasn't there when she went to pick up the book, and she had had to deal with the clerk and store owner that made her insides _twist_ in disgust.

Now, she has a poison guide. _For writing reference_ , she had thought of using as a cover, but since no one asked her about it she had just brought the book back home, put a fake cover on it and let it disguise itself along all the other heavy tomes of her family's library.

Unfortunately, she didn't get the book on time. Even if she had, she doesn't think she would have had the nerve to pull off the murder just _yet_. Yanagisawa Kotaro is a disgusting man that makes her spine break in goosebumps and the back of her neck and her head _hurt_ with impossible pain, but she feels he is… important. To what, she doesn't know, but he is important and he can't die for now.

Maybe later, though.

"Akari-san, can you pass sugar?"

...yes, not for now.

She honestly doesn't understand why her father would hand Aguri over to this sleazebag of a man. Her sister could do _so much better_ , even a tentacle monster would be better than Yanagisawa Kotaro who probably experiments on children and has a nuclear bomb hidden in his pocket. _Anyone_ would be better than Yanagisawa Kotaro.

She still passes the sugar, though. Nuclear bomb. Experiments with children. She hates and fears this man with all her heart.

Aguri has been… distant these past few weeks. Really, really distant. She kept working in future lesson plans for her dead-last class, but she seemed to have her head in the clouds more than usual. It is starting to worry Akari that one day she will fall into a curiously positioned knife, or tentacle, and her life will be forever ruined. Even _more_ than it already is with fucking _Yanagisawa Kotaro_ being her _future husband_.

...what's up with her and tentacles, lately? Does she have a hidden fetish for tentacles?

"Akari, have you seen about the transfer?" Aguri speaks, softly, with a smile that eases Akari's heart into a pile of mush (it has been _so long_ ), and serves another cup of tea to her disgusting fiancé. "I know you don't like Kunugigaoka..."

"I have been looking into it," she admits, reaching to steal the last muffin before Yanagisawa can take it. "But it's already too late, even for me."

She would have had to have started studying months ago, and since her decision to change schools was a sudden thought one second and an established path the next, she hadn't gotten to plan so far. Kunugigaoka is a Yanagisawa Kotaro-like school -disgusting, full of _stuck up people_ and with shady deals going on behind the pretty face of the main building, and she didn't like it, but it was definitely the best school in the area.

She was an actress. If she can act like a stuck up shit, she is sure to fit right in.

"Akari-san is looking into changing schools?" Shut up, you _white freak_. Both Akari and Aguri look at him, him who has been mostly quiet and thinking through their meal. He looks handsome quiet and thinking, but it rarely happens since he loves the sound of his own voice. "May I ask what brought this on?"

For some reason, the conversation dissolves into education politics, middle school rankings and the benefits of escalator schools, as well as child labour laws and the lack of quality free higher education. With a teacher, a politically oriented scientist and a child actress in the same house, it always ends up like this.

They get along, at times. That doesn't stop Akari from _loathing_ Yanagisawa Kotaro.

* * *

 _ **Shiota Nagisa**_

The facility is in the other side of the city.

That is something Nagisa figured out soon after he came back. That it isn't easy to travel back and forth between school and the facility that holds Koros- the God of Death, and still be back in time for dinner. It cannot be done, point.

He had worked around it the first few days after meeting Shinigami. Make as if he was going to class, then detour to change clothes, meet with Shinigami for whatever stupid game he was playing now while evading his mother's working place. Have lunch with Shinigami, continue evading his mother's workplace while following along with the little shit's whims, then head to the facility's outskirts and watch.

Simply watch.

He wants to do so many things, but he can't do anything right now. One, the God of Death inside the facility is _not_ his teacher. At all. He is a sadomasochist, suicidal and destructive information sponge that cares not for anyone, still months away from becoming anything close to Korosensei. Two, he can't do anything acting _alone_.

He needs someone with access to the facility. He needs someone to support him from both outside and inside, and then he needs someone who actually knows what they are doing, because Nagisa is acting on pure instinct right now and it is probably going to get him in trouble.

It already did.

As he holds an ice pack to his bruising cheek and disconnects the phone, he goes back to his initial thought process. The facility is in the other side of the city. It is currently break time, which means his mother won't let him leave home at all unless it is with friends, which he doesn't have and doesn't want to pull into the mess he is making his life become.

The facility is in the other side of the city. He has no class to act as his cover and no friends who would willingly put themselves in a dangerous situation (there would be Karma, but he doesn't _want_ to bring Karma into this. His neck still hurts and his heart aches when he thinks of _Karma_ , he still needs to apologize and Karma _told his mother he hadn't gone to class_ ). He has his father, who would let him stay at his home, but his father lives in the next city over and that is even farther from the facility than he needs.

He steps up the stairs with his shoes in one hand and his old/new peeling knife in the other. He has locked the doors from inside and left his keys on the table. His mother's keys are hung from the wall, so he picks them up to put them somewhere relevant as well.

He doesn't drive, either, so he can't just take the car. He doesn't even have a license, for anything four or two wheeled or vaguely motorized, and he has no Yoshida to drive him around. He isn't Itona or Kayano either, so he can't just tentacle himself over. He _thought_ of contacting Kayano, but he doesn't know her, she doesn't know him, and it would bring more mess to his life than it already is. He already spoke to her, she was fine, purchasing questionable literature but _fine_ , and he is not getting involved with that trainwreck family yet. He could free run all the way, but that would mean he would have to run back, and the distance is too long and he is too physically weak to deal with it right now.

Actually, he will always be physically weak. He is an assassin, not a brawler. Which is why he has a skewer fork, a peeling knife and an illegally acquired taser on his bed instead of things other people would have like... knuckles. He can't believe people use metal knuckles for anything.

Still, the facility is in the other side of the city. He has only one contact willing to help him in this situation (in exchange for what, he doesn't know, helping out at the bookstore?), another contact who will probably kill him for fun because _Nagisa is fun to tease_ , and right now, he will take what he can.

Nagisa throws the skewer fork into his bag and zips it. 2 AM. He puts his mother's keys on his desk and locks his door from the inside. 2 AM. He puts on his shoes and the warm jacket goes over his shoulders. 2 AM. Opens the window and steps into the windowsill on his tiptoes.

In a past, future event, at 2 AM after this same course of events he would have stabbed his mother, instead now he is closing the window with a string. It closes with a _click_ and the string comes back to his hand, whole, as he pulls himself up the roof.

The moon is whole and the world is _so bright_.

* * *

 _ **Horibe Itona**_

"Don't come back."

"Yes, uncle."

"Go somewhere small and where people won't see you."

"Yes, uncle."

"Bring your keys with you."

"...yes, uncle."

What. First he tells him to not come back, then to bring the keys along. Itona will never understand his uncle, never, ever. He _hates_ people, but his uncle takes the crown of confusing-yet-impossible-to-hate. Not because he isn't annoying, but because Itona's uncle is the only family he has left.

He also has a friend, maybe. Akabane Karma has been showing up to invite him to games and food for a few weeks now, and if he is honest with himself, he is really flattered. Or well, he would be if Karma wasn't clearly using him as replacement for something else, but well, beggars can't be choosers. He has found a ray of light in his dull light, and all that weird, sappy bullshit.

He locks the door behind him and makes his way down the street. The moon is still whole, the world is still safe and he hasn't been kidnapped into awkward human experiments like he keeps dreaming it happens. Not that he is kidnapped, in his dreams, but he cannot believe dream-him would be so stupid as to _follow_ a clearly psychopath scientist.

He throws the ends of his scarf back and adjusts the beanie. Is it just him, or did it suddenly get _cold_? Maybe it is just him, from remembering his dreams, nightmares that keep plaguing his mind every few nights. Nightmares where he is strapped down and left as a mere puppet of _something else_ 's actions, acting on instinct alone.

His missing limbs throb and he hisses. The phantom pain of the nonexistent limbs has become stronger in the past few days; whatever it is keeps wanting to reach to the skies and _leap_ , go somewhere far, far away, wrap itself around people and pull them apart bit by bit. They are subconscious words behind Itona's own thoughts, lurking and waiting like a monster that keeps whispering ' _become stronger_ '.

He is… a little scared. He will become more scared when whatever it is decides to break the barrier of 'this is definitely not Horibe Itona' and into 'these are Horibe Itona's dark thoughts'. He _hates_ people, but even he wouldn't dare to break them and dig into their bodies looking for- for what, exactly? He is not a murderer, he just wants to become stronger-

No, wait, not that either. Right now, he feels in a limbo of not quite knowing what he wants to do with this mysterious new skill tree he has randomly acquired. _Bloodlust, level 1_ , and he is pretty sure Karma's own is level 10. The Itona in his dreams has _no_ other skill, he hopes he will not become quite as stupid.

He reaches the old, ruined building and climbs up his usual tree. Here, he has the best view in, and no one has found him so far.

After taking a long, long drink of his beer (illegally acquired, because his uncle doesn't care, thus cannot be hated), he settles down against the trunk and waits. Maybe in half an hour, he will start hearing the telltale sound of people ruining their lives through the shadiest streets of Kunugigaoka city, but for now he can just lay back and relax.

And then the battles begin inside the building. He is personally betting on the foreigner with the scar on his arm.

Ah, yes. Underground brawling. Better than TV.

* * *

 **NOTE:** Chapters are so short... I should have kept March as a single chapter... Black mambas are really fast and really shy, also really poisonous. They are the natural assassins of the snake world. I wanted to look for a proper, tentacle animal for Akari's motif, but then I got lazy so I will do that later.

Akari should be having phantom pain, but she didn't go crazy for as long as Itona did. She shouldn't buy books she doesn't plan to use, also Itona shouldn't be drinking, also Karma stop ruining people's lives, also Nagisa where are you going to stay? Itona is remembering through dreams (or rather, tentacle residue), Akari is going to remember through interaction with Shiro. Karrrrrma is… he's gonna do things, yeah.

Though Shinigami, Aguri and Korosensei are supposed to be POV characters, I'll only use them when they need to show up. Ritsu, too, because she is too corrupted to be doing anything right now. She will come back soon... hopefully...

Last chapter I said Itona's father passed away. That is my mistake, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. He says his parents are dead for his own ease of mind, which is something that will… become important later? I guess? I should stop making plot points out of mistakes.


	4. YEAR 0: APRIL 2014

_**Akabane Karma**_

By the first few days of their return to class, Nagisa _still_ hasn't come to class. Or appeared, at all. Karma got a seat change, this year, so he can't just blankly stare at the empty seat besides him and pretend he is worrying, which is bad, but also he is _legit_ starting to worry.

So, okay, at first he was angry. Really angry, for some reason. Then he was more of indifferent towards it, and didn't care; he had Itona to play with, anyways, and he could tease Class-D to his heart's content. But now, it has been two weeks and a little more, and still no peep from Shiota Nagisa.

"Yo, Class-A reject," greets Terasaka as he sits besides him. Karma nods as response, still thinking- wait. Terasaka probably knows something, right?

"Hey, Terasaka," he turns to the other, waving a finger lazily. "Help me a little?"

"What, you need help beating someone up? How unexpected." Terasaka snorts, taking out his notebook for the upcoming class even though he is _not_ going to pay attention at all.

"No, no, I can do that on my own." He grins. Beating up people is _fun_ and _reaaaally easy_. "You know who lives near the Muramatsu ramen?"

"You mean besides Muramatsu?" The other, bigger boy raises an eyebrow at him before turning back to his notebook. "There is your boyfriend, Yoshida, and Sugino."

"Ooh, Sugino then? Alright, thanks."

He ignores the _boyfriend_ comment with the expertise of a year, and settles down to ignore the class with the expertise of even more years.

Sugino Tomohito. Yoshida Taisei. Muramatsu Takuya. Out of those three, there is only one close enough to Nagisa to notice if he has been appearing at all in the neighbourhood. Karma realizes he has turned a bit stalkerish but, hey, he is getting worried and anxious and he needs to know if his friend is getting into trouble and he needs to bail him out.

When the first bell rings, he gets up and stalks over to Sugino's seat holding two pencils in each hand like pincers. Nakamura joins him midways through, for which Kanzaki quickly retreats from her spot next to the boy. Soon, there is a big circle of onlookers around an oblivious Sugino, and even the teacher (who still hasn't left) is looking on with interest.

This school. Why is it so weird.

"To. mo. hi. to. san." Nakamura enunciates and stresses each syllable carefully and beautifully, and it is really no wonder she is the best in languages in the whole class. Thanks to her calling Sugino to attention (how does she _remember_ everyone's names, anyway?), he turns around, already with a probably cute response in his lips only to jump back in panic at the sight of Karma.

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING I SWEAR IT WAS TERASAKA HE MADE ME DO IT I'M SORRY I WON'T DO IT AGAIN," he yells, running through his words until they are barely understandable (Terasaka screams in frustration and there is a loud _thud_ ). Sugino flails. Karma stares, smiles some more. Sugino cowers and trembles.

Honestly. Why do people react so terribly at his mere presence?

He clicks his pincers. Smiles. Sugino covers his face and whines, apologizing under his breath. Karma raises his hand, pencils poised to pierce, graphite sharpened to the point of perfection and everyone takes in a breath, Sugino shrieks as he... drops his pencils because really, why would he attack Sugino, Sugino is a friend.

The pencils clatter on the floor with a sound that brings everyone out of their trance. What, did they _really_ think he would attack someone defenseless _with a pencil_ , too? He isn't Nagisa, he prefers beating people up (that is fun) until they are an unrecognizable pulp under his fists, not just stabbing them to death. That's no fun.

...wait, what is he thinking about? No, killing people isn't fun, he would never do that. He shakes his head.

"Sugino, question," he says, rubbing his thumb over the spontaneously generated scars in his finger (those are _Nagisa_ 's, they appeared the other day out of nowhere but he knows they are _Nagisa_ 's). Relax, calm down, leave the random murderous thoughts asides for now. You cannot get away with assassination here, not yet.

Life returns to the people around the classroom and Sugino uncurls from his defensive stance. He looks up, looks around and at the pencil, lets out a shaky laugh. People scatter, murmuring to themselves, throwing wary glances at Karma. Nagisa isn't present, Nakamura pats Karma's arm and whispers something, but he is-

"Y-yeah, ok, that's fine with me, what do you want to ask?"

Karma smirks, sitting down on Sugino's desk -maybe he can intimidate a question out of him, this way? He doesn't quite know _why_ would anyone keep information from him, though, but he feels like it happened sometime and he should be wary about it. Like, really wary. World-ending wary.

"I need Nagisa," he admits with no shame, looking down at the baseball player with what he believes is a kind expression. From Sugino's immediate reaction to bring up his notebook to hide and Nakamura's soft cough, he doubts he managed it quite as he planned. Damn.

"Shiota-kun?" And now, Sugino sounds confused. Really, what's up with all these people, wondering why he should _not_ be looking for his bestest frienemy ever? Or whatever? "He hasn't shown up at class-"

"I know this, but what about at his house?" Karma returns Nakamura's unbelieving expression with another smirk he has taken ages to master. He loves his second, really, he does.

"Why do you even-," she starts, but a quick wave of his hand silences her. She frowns and makes a stabbing motion with her (nicely metallic) ruler, which he blocks with Sugino's notebook- the one he still has in his hands, that is.

"WAH- I'M SORRY!" Sugino cowers behind his notebook, even as Nakamura continues her attack to Karma himself. She is _good_ , damn. "I haven't seen Shiota, I'm _sorry_!"

 _Well, that's fine too,_ Karma tries to tell himself, except it _isn't_ because he seriously wants to punch Nagisa in the face. He continues blocking Nakamura's attack, snatching the notebook away and using it to single handedly fend off the dreaded ruler as he checks his phone for any missed calls.

Message from Itona. Well, that's definitely fine as well. Playing with Nagisa can wait, he _still_ can use the new toy he found in the streets after all.

* * *

 _ **Shiota Nagisa**_

By the middle of the first week of April, he realizes he cannot keep this up. He is _tired_ , his mood unusually down and he misses the constant company that was Class E, his teachers and even the God of Death through the past couple weeks. He will gladly give up his almost-freedom once again if it means he will not have to be alone for the course of the next year, even if there are things to be done and a world to stop from being destroyed.

His parents wouldn't understand. Or rather, they would, but wouldn't do anything about it. Through his few weeks of constant comings and goings, disappearing for at most five days in a row, his parents didn't once call out to him. His father showed up once to invite him to stay a few days at his home, but he declined -at that time, he was spying on Yukimura Aguri. His mother did her best to never cross his path, and from what he saw, she acted like he was on a long trip with his father somewhere else.

Denial didn't look good on them.

He hopes his mother will behave once he goes back for real. The message he left for her when he first left was quite clear and no one would doubt his words if he brought them up to the police -he has scars and old bruises still-, but he would rather not. His father is a completely different matter, with his overprotectiveness and sense of justice always hovering around him. Still, if he didn't want a runaway son, he should have taken Nagisa with him when he left the first time, maybe.

Not that Nagisa wants that, now. Staying at his mother's house is easier for his job than staying all the way in the next city, even if she is… a little out of it. Not that his latest accommodations have been any better, really: the forest is tiring, Korosensei's old cave is not fit for humans and the God of Death's apartment was empty more time than it was not. He is lucky he had lots of survival training, specially on those last few months of the first run. Even now, he doesn't quite feel like dying.

He adjusts his binoculars and looks down at the facility's back entrance. From where he is perched up in a building's empty rooms, he can see clearly who comes and goes and has been keeping track, but that doesn't mean it is easy. Scientists at the facility have daily shifts that change every week, for some reason; the only constants are Yanagisawa and Yukimura, who never go in through the back entrance. Finding a disguise is harder than he thought it would.

It is when he is finally preparing to leave (go back to Mother's tight leash and school -face _Karma_ ) that he sees Yukimura Akari, Kayano Kaede, also doing the same. She is kneeling by a ruined building, throwing in bottles and cables into a bag and covered in a black hoodie that covers her whole. Still, Nagisa would recognize her _everywhere_ : Kaede, their emotional support, their final defense, _Yukimura's_ little sister.

He shakes his head.

He cannot contact her. She has to live her life the way she is meant to, even if she is currently purchasing really questionable literature in espionage and poison making. He worries about her too much to get her involved in this terrible business before time is due, especially since right now, both of them are still expendable.

Class E doesn't exist. If he has it his way, it won't _ever_ need to exist. There is no long year behind them to excuse their friendship. No attempted assassination, kidnappings, deals of questionable nature in the background. They are only middle school students, not crash trained assassins out for cold blood.

Even if he feels like that at times.

He can still dial her number by memory in his phone, just as he can everyone else. Which he can't, because he _doesn't know her_ , even if the temptation to do so is strong. He has to call the God of Death to tell him he will be taking a break from shady business for a while, _not_ Kayano Kaede to stutter like a fool when he hears her voice, _not_ Korosensei who doesn't even exist just yet to yell at him to get back to Japan for his class, _not_ Akabane Karma who he still can't even face.

He hangs up too quickly for whoever he called to pick up, anyways.

He feels so ashamed of himself.

* * *

 _ **(Ritsu)**_ _**Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery**_

 _?_

 _...?_

 _-ot h-_

 _-ss E Supp-_

 _ **ring**_ _ring r-_ _ **click**_

 _...who a-_

 _ **EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATING IN 3...**_

"I thought I told _all_ of you to _shut that thing_ _ **down**_!"

"W-we are sorry, sir! It keeps turning back on-"

 _ **2...**_

"Break it! Just break it! I will _not_ have failures under my name-"

"Well I would not call it a failure, really, more of an... unexpected development..."

 _ **1... EMERGENCY FLARE SENT. AWAITING RESPONSE.**_

"Sir, it is trying to connect to the network again."

"Do you think there is some hacker behind it?"

"Well, can't be hard to check."

* * *

 _ **Horibe Itona**_

The message reached his phone with a _beep_ and the small jingle he had previously set for unknown/unregistered numbers. It didn't make any sense, the message: just a long string of numbers and letters that he took a look at, puzzled about and immediately deleted.

He feels he has seen the message before, though. Not sure from where, but it brought him a memory of a giant station and a group of people, frantic typing and the loud bang of gunshots. A depressing memory, maybe even more than all the other misplaced memories he gets at times when looking at bright yellow balls.

"Horibe." The teacher calls and after Itona confirms his attendance, he lays down and looks out the window. He feels so _bored_ about everything, at this moment -like something he was used to have was suddenly taken from his hands, so suddenly and forcefully his hands were ripped from his arms.

He yawns. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for his uncle, who absolutely hated having him loiter around. School was a waste of time right now, it had been a waste of time since a long time, but these past months coming to school cut into his napping and research time.

Research what? He feels pretty odd calling it research, but reaching into his nerves and _trying_ to control limbs he didn't even have sounds pretty crazy. Truth is, he isn't researching so much as simply trying to remember what his body memory keeps projecting to him. Hopefully, if he understands that, he will be able to get rid of the phantom limbs with no more pain.

Class goes on all day and finishes on time, like always. The information Horibe Itona acquired while in class was 0% of what was lectured, like always. And, like always, he is either the first or the last to leave the building -today, he settles for being the last. He is _so tired_ and he feels _slow_.

Itona makes his way home in a tired daze, taking his usual shortcuts and evading the usual people. One group of bullies uses the corner store as their observation base, one teacher keeps watch of the perimeter from her parked car, one of Uncle's friends often gets coffee around this time at that convenience store. He follows a route carved in his memory, hiding from cameras out of instinct and keeping an eye on the airspace above him.

He is so lost in his pointless thoughts that, when he bumps into a pedestrian, he falls on his behind and stares at the ground uncomprehending. He blinks a few times, slow and listless, and it is only when a hand is offered to him that he wakes up from his daze.

 _Weak_.

"Are you alright?" The man says, looking down at Itona with (fake) concern. His eyes are the weirdest in the world, and they are the only reason why Itona knows this man is _too_ familiar for it to be normal. Dangerous. _Run._

Unfortunately, he is still on the ground, his head throbbing and instincts telling him this man is family, not-family, enemy and friend at the same time. His phantom limbs lash at the man in the scientist coat, but since they are not actually there, they cause no damage. That doesn't mean the man (Shiro?) doesn't feel the sudden bloodlust around Itona, even though he is only looking at a blank spot above the (annoying, shitty) scientist's shoulder.

 _Shiro_ (because he is dressed all in white and the name seems to fit) is still offering Itona his hand, so he takes it and gets to his feet, ignoring the dizziness that comes with the movement. He lifts his bag, because his phone is there and that is important, and bows his head just a little bit.

"Thank you. I apologize." It is only a whisper, but he is not staying around to listen to whatever the worst person in the world has to say. He is scared for reasons unknown and _that_ scares him even more than it should.

He runs.

* * *

 _ **(Kayano Kaede) Yukimura Akari**_

Yanagisawa Kotaro has been overly cheerful for the past days and it is creeping both Akari and Aguri out. It isn't even a good cheerful, rather a sickening feeling like when a stalker _finally_ manages to clone his target's house key and plant a loving message in her window. _That_ is how bad Yanagisawa Kotaro's cheer feels.

Another thing that feels creepy is the facility as a whole. And the surroundings. And whatever it is they had been doing inside there (it is not natural nor healthy and definitely not something Akari will like).

She doesn't even know _why_ she wants to get in there, but she needs to. There is something in there calling for her, like some lighthouse blinking at a traveler heading for the next port over. It isn't something she _needs_ , but it was something she definitely _wants_ and she would do anything for it.

Well, maybe not anything. She would never bow to Yanagisawa Kotaro, and she would never feel comfortable about the feeling there was some _one_ looking at her whenever she was monitoring the facility. She would probably not kill anyone unless the worst happened (what _was_ the worst?) and she would not use herself as a bargaining chip (the agency did that enough times already).

She needs help. Whatever is it she wants to do with whatever is inside the facility, she _really_ needs help to get it. She is just a single person, not skilled enough, and she is sure there are people out there who work in this. Maybe she could ask the owner of the _Shibumi_ about theoretical aid (for writing research, right?), since he didn't ask for any explanations for whatever is it she wanted to do.

Does she dare to ask for help, though? Is she desperate enough?

...maybe, not yet.

* * *

 _ **God of Death (extra)**_

He didn't particularly know what to expect when he opened the door of his small apartment, but it was definitely not Shiota Nagisa looking like he just went through survival training. His hair, usually in carefully made twintails by the side of his head, is loose, messy, with some small branches stuck to it; his clothes are stained in brown and green, like he had been rolling down a hill. He has bags under his eyes and his fingers hold tightly to the ice pick at his belt; he looks paranoid enough to make _him_ feel normal.

"...did you spend the last week in a forest?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

Well, that explains that. He opens the door wider to let the boy in, looking around to make sure he wasn't followed. Great assassin Nagisa may turn out be, but he is still naive and blind, and he is _not_ letting the police take hold of him before he does it himself.

"Were you stalking the facility again?" He closes the door behind him, locking it once again and turns to find Nagisa already sprawled atop the box of personal order books that arrived this morning. "When was the last time you slept, anyways."

Ever since he met Nagisa, the one who was now called God of Death had become aware of the boy's bizarre agenda. Either he was really interested in whatever was _inside_ the facility, or he was stalking one of the workers in there. Nagisa had been there since he himself had appeared, but since neither him or his old master had really scouted the city side of the facility beforehand, he didn't know if Nagisa had been around _before_.

Either way, the boy doesn't know how to give up.

Nagisa shakes his head and raises two fingers before rolling off the box and onto the pillows. Huh, so not the facility, but a forest. Two days without sleeping is not good, even _he_ knows this, and his master always considered him kind of abnormal about all things. Nagisa was far too focused for his own good.

He goes around the box and the already sleeping Nagisa, to the kitchen where he _was_ making dinner. It is ruined, which is sad, but since Nagisa is here he can wait a few hours for the boy to wake up and make food. So that is what he does.

Hours later, Nagisa makes an early breakfast. He is wearing a school uniform, complete with a standardized jacket and bag that appeared from nowhere, and his ice pick is hidden inside a pocket in his bag. How Shinigami knows this, it is because he saw when the child put all his weapons away except his skewer knife (in his jacket) and the ice pick, of course.

"You are going back home?" He asks, not really curious at all. Nagisa is _his_ to mold, though, and he needs to know where he goes when he is not staying around. Nagisa hums an affirmative, browsing through his phone messages with no real care for anything. "Guess I can give this store back to its owner?"

"If you want," Nagisa replies absently. Well, he _could_ give it back, but he could also simply put it under his name in case he needs to return. Business will die, which is bad, but he _does_ need a place he can stay in in case the facility decides to do anything else. Well, he has Nagisa and his abnormal interest in it, too, but Shinigami had rather not count on the child too much.

"What's your school like?" He asks, because he is not curious at all, just making small talk. He _sucks_ at small talk.

"Insane."

"Just like you and I, then."

And like that, the conversation dies.

* * *

 **NOTE:** I'm starting to hate this style of fragmented writing, so I took a long while to try to fix it. It didn't work, but hopefully I'll be able to get next chapter written somehow I actually like. Sorry for the lateness orz...


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